Huge Black Hole Discovered Near Our Galaxy

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The Leo I black hole, located in the center of a dwarf galaxy orbiting the Milky Way, was recently discovredred by a team of scientists from the University of Texas, according to the website Futurism.

According to the analyses that have been conducted, the newly discocovered black hold would be far more widespread than anticipated. Nearly as many solar masses would be concentrated in the object as there are in our galaxy’s black hole, which would be around 3.3 million solar masses in total.

Due to the fact that the mass of a black hole is related to its size, Leo I would seem to be disproportionately massive when compared to the dwarf galaxy that it inhabits. A co-author of the research published in The Astrophysical Journal, Karl Gebhardt, characterized the findings: “You have a very small galaxy that is collapsing towards the Milky Way, and its black hole is nearly as enormous as that of the Milky Way.”

According to Slate, the finding throws into question the previously assumed link between the size of a galaxy and the size of the black hole at its core, which was previously supposed to be proportionate.

Three European space missions will be launched in the next years to investigate these still-mysterious objects. Starting in 2022, the Euclid mission will be launched, which will be devoted to the investigation of Dark Matter and Dark Energy.

The Athena and Lisa missions, which will research the growing process of a black hole and its involvement in the creation of the universe, are anticipated to be launched in the near future.